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Zathura (Video Game)
Zathura (Video Game) is a science-fiction, adventure, survival video game developed by 2K Games and published by Sony Entertainment. It is based on the Zathura (film) and novel of the same name and it stars Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo and Dax Shepherd, who are the only actors to reprise their roles from the film. In the game's plot, Danny and Walter visit several planets while battling aliens, robots and Zorgons while attempting to finish the Zathura (board game) in order to get back home to Earth. The game was released in 2005. The video game recieved mixed reviews from critics and audiences who criticize the plot, hard levels and the ammo used for the characters' weapons, but the voice acting, graphics, sound design, action scenes, character development and musical score were praised. Plot While their father leaves for work, two brothers Danny and Walter are left alone for the afternoon but the two cannot get along with each other. After Walter refuses to make Danny some lunch and starts insulting him by calling him a "baby" this causes Danny to throw a baseball at Walter's face, leading to him to chase him up the stairs. He finds Danny in a dumbwaiter and lowers him down into the basement, despite Danny pleading him not to. While exploring the basement, Danny finds a board game called Zathura and becomes interested in it, he takes it back upstairs and heads into the living room while Walter is still watching baseball on TV. Danny starts playing Zathura while Walter refuses to play with him, soon as he takes his turn, Danny gets a card but is unable to read it so he asks Walter to read the card. The card says: "Meteor Shower, Take evasive action" and suddenly meteors and comets starts shooting down into the living room. After rescuing his pet gerbil, Danny joins with Walter in the fireplace soon as the meteor storm stops. The brothers soon discover that the game has sent them into outer space and they learn from the game's instructions that in order to get back home to Earth, they must finish the game. Walter takes his turn and gets a card that says: "Your robot is defective" which a small robot appears but quickly grows to big size and chases Walter to the basement where it tumbles down the stairs. As Danny and Walter inspect the robot, it reactivates and teleports itself to its own planet (accidentally bringing Danny and Walter with it too). As soon as they arrive at the Robot Planet, Walter blames Danny for the mess they got into until Danny accidentally hits a button on a control system and two robots capture the boys and are separated. Danny makes his way through corridors of the Robot Planet, battling robots and lazer bots with a powered slingshot before making his way to find Walter in a jail cell and he convinces his younger brother to find the control room where he can be released. After fighting his way through a giant lava pit and more corridors, Danny arrives at the control room and frees Walter, who begins making his way up to him. Walter fights his way through corridors of the Robot Planet, equipped with a broken robot arm, battling robots and laser bots along the way. He finally makes his way to the control room, where the robot (fully charged) begins chasing him again, but he lures the robot into a Reprogram Chamber. He finds Danny and reprograms the robot to "Serve and Protect" function before they are captured by more robots. The reprogrammed Robot makes his way through the hallways of the planet, fighting robots along the way before making his way into the Master Robot room, where it has Danny and Walter held hostage. After defeating the Master Robot, the Robot rescues Danny and Walter then teleports them back to the house. While glad to be back in the house, Danny discovers that they are still in space. They find the Robot out of power and Danny finds the game (after being forced to play when Walter calls him a baby) and takes his turn. He gets a card which says: "You pass too close to Tsouris-3, Gravity Increased" the house gets too close to a star like planet called Tsouris-3 and the trio are sucked into the planet. Finding themselves in a lava like place after landing on a alien-like jellyfish, Walter finds it to be awesome while Danny begins to feel sick due to being sucked into the planet. Realising that the teleport power drains the Robot's power, Walter explores Tsouris-3 to find power cells from broken spaceships in order to charge the Robot up again while Danny stays with the Robot. After collecting all the power cells and fighting several volcanic creatures, Walter makes his way back to Danny and the Robot, but a volcanic like dragon attacks them and knocks Danny off, leaving him stranded while Walter and the Robot float away on the alien-like jellyfish. Danny fights his way through the dangers of Tsouris-3, battling volcanic dragons and skeletal dogs before making his way to the Lava Boss (Mr Meltdown). Danny defeats the Lava Boss with his slingshot before Walter and the Robot arrive then are teleported back to the house. Back in the house, Danny refuses to play while Walter takes his turn and gets a card that says: "You are promoted to Fleet Admiral Go ahead 4 spaces". Danny walks into the kitchen with Walter following him along with the game. After convincing each other to end their fighting and become more better brothers, Danny takes his turn, he gets a card which says: "You are visited by Zorgons" and the house is attacked by hostile lizard like aliens called Zorgons. Making their way to the fireplace, Walter takes his turn and gets a card which says "Recharge" (which charges the Robot up again) and Danny takes his turn where he gets a card that says "Rescue stranded astronaut". while the Robot arrives. The Robot takes Danny and Walter to a space station where they supposed to meet the Astronaut. They find it wrecked and are attacked by Zorgons, the Robot defeats the Zorgons easily and chases one through the station and this leaves Walter amused. While Danny is scared as he doesn't like the game, Walter tries to open the doors, but are locked except for one that has a hole on its right side. Walter cannot get through as he is too big, so Danny has to go. Danny fights his way through the space station, fighting Zorgons and lazer bots along the way before bravely making his way across an open space with floating objects and makes his way into the Hub where he unlocks the doors. With the doors unlocked, Walter makes his way through the space station, not before having a brief conversation with the Astronaut as he gives him directions that will lead him to the Hub, fighting Zorgons and lazer bots before making his way across an open space with floating objects and reuniting with Danny in the Hub. Walter is attacked by a Zorgon until the Robot arrives and defeats the Zorgons, before making their way to meet the Astronaut who gives them a lift back to the house in his ship. While escaping, a Zorgon ship is about to destroy the house with its firing power, but the Astronaut manages to stop them by letting his ship get hit by the missle before arriving at the house. As Walter and the Astronaut set the living room couch on fire to draw the Zorgons away from them (as they are attracted to heat), Danny heads into the living room where it gives way due to the Zorgons blasting the house and falls to a planet below. The Astronaut tells Walter that he needs to fix his ship and that Danny is heading towards the Dead Planet; the Zorgons used to live there until they destroyed it and it is now a desert post-apocalyptic land and that there are aliens down there. While the Astronaut fixes his ship the Robot teleports Walter to the Dead Planet where he can rescue Danny. After landing, Danny finds himself on the Dead Planet and makes his way through the desert areas while fighting aliens along the way (which include Cultrists, Sand Bugs and Sand Sharks) before getting captured and taken to their leader. Meanwhile, Walter makes his way to find Danny while fighting several aliens (including Sand Crabs) before arriving in a room where the leader, known as the Stone Goddess, has Danny. Walter defeats the Stone Goddess and saves Danny just as the Astronaut arrives to pick them up and the Robot. Back at the house, they find the furniture and boxes gone, including the game which the Astronaut realises that while he was gone picking the boys up, the Zorgons has arrived at the house and looted the place. Making a plan to get the game back which is on the Zorgon Mothership, the four then make their way to the Mothership. A massive Zorgon fleet is waiting for them and the Astronaut does not have any weapons to fight back at them, but the Robot goes off to play "tag" with the Zorgons. While the Robot distracts the Zorgon fleet, Danny, Walter and the Astronaut arrive at the mothership, with the Astronaut preparing to draw the Zorgons away while the boys go and find the game. Later, after battling several Zorgons, Walter and Danny split up, with Walter luring the Zorgons away and Danny goes to find the game. After saving the game from being incinerated, Danny makes his way to find Walter and the Astronaut but ends up meeting the Zorgon Overlord (the leader of the Zorgons). While the Overlord attempts to kill Danny, the Robot (badly burned from being shot by the Zorgon ships) saves Danny and defeats the Overlord by throwing him into the vacumm of space. With the group reunited, the Robot teleports them back to the house (as the Astronaut lost his ship). Danny and Walter continue playing the game with Walter getting a card that says; "Lose map of the galaxy, go back 2 spaces" and Danny getting a card that says; "Move ahead 9 spaces", making Danny the winner of the game. The house is drawn into a roaring black hole which Danny realises is Zathura, the Zorgon fleet is pulled into the black hole, with the Robot, the Astronaut and then Danny and Walter. Then moments later, they have returned to Earth with the brothers back in the same place before the game had begun. After preventing Danny from pushing the button again on the game (which is switched off), the boys are glad they are back home and decide to keep their adventure in space a secret from their father and friends. Walter decides to play catch with Danny making his younger brother feel appreciated that he now has a better brother. They go outside to play catch, leaving the Zathura board game in the living room. Cast * Jonah Bobo - Danny Budwing - The youngest of the Budwing family who is timid and easily scared but must overcome those fears in order to beat the game. Equipped with a slingshot with ammos and being smaller, Danny can move through areas more easily than Walter. * Josh Hutcherson - Walter Budwing - The older brother of Danny who does not get along with his younger brother but eventually becomes a better brother in order to finish the game and get back home to Earth. Equipped with a broken robot arm and athletic moves, Walter can move through areas with acrobatic stunts. * Dax Shepherd - The Astronaut - A former player of Zathura who was trapped in the game ever since he wished his brother away and helps the two brothers by giving them advice about the game's world and its dangers. Zathura Characters and Creatures Robot Planet * The Robot - Although an enemy at first, it is reprogrammed by Danny and Walter to help them fight several alien species in the game's world. * Lazer Bots - These floating robots shoot bolts of lazers towards the players. They also appear on the Space station levels. * Worker Bots - These bots take out the trash and capture intruders. * Sentri-Bots - These robors have long arms that swing around to kill their enemies. * Master Robot - Ruler of the Robot Planet. Tsouris-3 * Volcanic Creatures - These creatures only appear in the level "Fall to Tsouris-3" who create volcanic explosions by slamming their fists to the ground. * Volcanic Dragons - These creatures of Tsouris-3 fly around and shoot purple balls at their targets. * Skeletal Dogs - These dog like creatures chase the player and hit them by charging towards them. * Lava Boss/Mr Meltdown - The ruler of Tsouris-3 who bathes in lava and can use lava rocks to throw at his enemies. Dead Planet * Cultrists - These green alien species are hostile towards other species who throw green like substance to kill their enemies. * Sand Bugs - These small bug like aliens pop up from the sand of the Dead Planet and attack their enemies by their feet. They can be killed by kicking them. * Sand Sharks - These massive creatures swim through the sand of the Dead Planet and can kill their enemies by a single bite to them. * Sand Crabs - These creatures pop out from the sand of the Dead Planet and attack their enemies. Walter collects their Sand crab eggs for ammo after killing them. * The Stone Goddess - The ruler of the Dead Planet. She was killed by Walter during the final level of the dead planet. Zorgons * Zorgons - These hostile lizard like species who are once inhabitants of the Dead Planet search for junk and burn things to eat. They are equipped with swords and knives. * The Zorgon Overlord - The leader of the Zorgons who is bigger and wider than the remaining Zorgons. He was killed by the Robot, who shoved him into the vacuum of space. Reception Critical Response The Zathura video game recieved mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, who criticised the hard levels, the plot and the amount of ammo used by the characters to defeat the alien species. On Metacritic, it has an improved rating of 43%, indicating "mixed or average reviews" and on Gamespot, it has an improved rating of 5.4 out of 10. Audiences find the game to be hard because of the hard levels they tried to get passed, but praising the voice acting, character development, graphics, sound design and musical score. Trivia * This version of Zathura is the only adaptation that is different than the book, where Danny and Walter visit several planets while in the book, they stay in the house to finish the game. * Danny and Walter seem to carry backpacks all the time in the game, which possibly has their ammo inside ready to fight the game's alien species. * The game released on Playstation 2 and Xbox, curiously skipping the GameCube Category:Zathura